Some Forsyth County voters may be casting their ballot at a new precinct for the 2018 midterm elections.

On Monday, Jan. 2, the Forsyth County Board of Voter Registrations and Elections discussed the potentially new locations after a pair of county churches said they might not be interested in hosting polls in the future.

“They are rethinking that,” said Barbara Luth, the department’s supervisor. “We did find out that it was not anything that our office or our elections had done – it had to do with campaigners that we could post signs that there was no campaigning at the request of the church.

“I guess one of the campaigns got a little nasty with one of the preachers.”

Luth said the one campaigner had told the church that property belonged to elections for the day, but was told that was not the case. The county is only responsible for the 150-foot area around polls and the rest of the property belongs to the church.

Joel Natt, a Republican member of the board, said the incident happened during last summer’s Republican primary and that party officials had spoken with those involved.

“They lose sight and their supporters, too,” he said. “It’s not just Forsyth County this happens in. As a member of the Republican state committee, we hear it from across the state, particularly during primaries.”

One of the churches will also be going through renovations before the midterm and will re-evaluate at a later time.

Natt said he has also spoken with District 4 Commissioner Cindy Jones Mills about a possible new polling location for north Forsyth’s Chestatee precinct, possibly at Lanierland Park.

“I explained there was no county building at a park physically within the commission district,” he said.

Luth said the department will review all county polling places to make sure they continue to be a good fit.